Darquis

kawooda1 wrote:Which makes it that much worse that woot is just going to leave them hanging. If they were on the brink of bankruptcy, woot should use some of the $2 increaseto pay them a little more to try to keep them going. Instead they said its not their problem.

I think that's because, honestly, it's not. Woot isn't in the business of propping up other businesses - they're in the Tshirt sale business (well and other things but we only care about shirt.woot for these purposes). Their goal is to sell Tshirts and (obviously) make money doing so. Keeping AA in business isn't one of those goals. It isn't up to woot to keep failing companies afloat.

On another note, it's getting really annoying seeing all these people (who have not seen the blanks woot will now be using) decrying the quality, as if they've been wearing them for months. Do you really think woot's gonna move from great shirts to ones that are awful, fall apart, aren't comfortable, etc.? I understand being frustrated with their business decisions, but selling terrible feeling/fitting/lasting shirts puts them out of business. That obviously is not woot's goal here - even if they're being greedy profit hungry capitalists, they obviously can't put out a product no one will buy.

So instead of dismissing the product outright before you get a chance to see it, let's give it a chance. And maybe we could stop pretending that being an American company inherently makes AA better? Both AA and Anvil provide jobs both in America AND overseas, but AA is a whole lot scummier.

kawooda1

Darquis wrote:I think that's because, honestly, it's not. Woot isn't in the business of propping up other businesses - they're in the Tshirt sale business (well and other things but we only care about shirt.woot for these purposes). Their goal is to sell Tshirts and (obviously) make money doing so. Keeping AA in business isn't one of those goals. It isn't up to woot to keep failing companies afloat.

On another note, it's getting really annoying seeing all these people (who have not seen the blanks woot will now be using) decrying the quality, as if they've been wearing them for months. Do you really think woot's gonna move from great shirts to ones that are awful, fall apart, aren't comfortable, etc.? I understand being frustrated with their business decisions, but selling terrible feeling/fitting/lasting shirts puts them out of business. That obviously is not woot's goal here - even if they're being greedy profit hungry capitalists, they obviously can't put out a product no one will buy.

So instead of dismissing the product outright before you get a chance to see it, let's give it a chance. And maybe we could stop pretending that being an American company inherently makes AA better? Both AA and Anvil provide jobs both in America AND overseas, but AA is a whole lot scummier.

I agree that their business is to sell shirts, and not to keep other companies in business. And I understand that the best supplier needs to be chosen for their ability to supply what you need, rather than sticking with the same one forever just because they are your "friend". But like many people have suggested, they could at least offer AA shirts for an increased price. I think the decision to go with Anvil, should mean $10 shirts come back. You should have an option of AA for $12 or Anvil for $10. They are not the same.

kawooda1

Darquis wrote:On another note, it's getting really annoying seeing all these people (who have not seen the blanks woot will now be using) decrying the quality, as if they've been wearing them for months.

Maybe they'll send me a few blanks as they've been doing others. I'm not a buy-every-week person but I looked back and have bought 39 woot shirts...

Darquis wrote: That obviously is not woot's goal here - even if they're being greedy profit hungry capitalists, they obviously can't put out a product no one will buy.

That's exactly why so many people are saying they won't be buying anymore. It's going to take a shirt design I really can't live without for me to pull the trigger again. It's not going to be because it's kind of funny anymore.

DianaSprinkle

Okay here's a side by side for the woman's shirts. I still need to wash the Anvil blanks but I can already say I like the collar more than the old blanks. It's not shown in these photos but it's not be as tight around the neck.

I have moved down a size from WM in AA to WS in the new Anvil blanks, but you can compare the Anvil WM to the AA and I think I could also wear that size if I wanted a less snug fit.

Also even though I'm losing more length going from WM to the new WS it doesn't look that short in the photos... but I may need to wash the new shirts to see the real difference there.

modsquad

onefreeman wrote:If running with Anvil blanks lets them do more cool stuff (and the shirts are, as promised, of equivalent quality) then I'm all for this.

I come to SHIRT.woot for shirts, not for totes, posters, or anything else. If they want to do "more cool stuff", they need to appeal to their parent company for an investment on that venture, not over charge us for one product to experiment with others. Especially when it does something as drastic as change their founding statement which stated they were Texas printed tees, printed on American shirt blanks.

fishbiscuit5 wrote:...I was secretly hoping they would be woot's choice since they need to make the change.

Why do they "NEED" to make a change? If they actually "needed" to make a change, they could have made other changes, like raising the price $3 instead of $2 & keeping sticking with the U.S. made blanks. If they are having problems with womens sizing, they can ADD additional brands/sizes/models from other providers while keeping the current offerings the same.

Instead of just forcing the change on us, they could have easily just let US decide what WE want to buy from them by offering both the AA & the Anvil like others sites do & offer them at prices that keep the margin the same for each shirt printed....cheaper blank=cheaper shirt for those watching prices...couple bucks more for those of us that don't mind spending a couple bucks extra to buy American or a higher quality shirt.

Investing a little time in giving more options at the checkout would likely be a good way for them to improve their revenue.....like a print, have the option at checkout to have it printed on tees, hoodies, long sleeve, tank top, totes, what ever....just have a statement that says some orders may have different lead times. However, if the print screens are setup to run a print, it's probably doesn't matter much what fabric item they press the print onto, especially since they seem to just run big runs of stuff.....this method would require taking the orders before running the prints, but I'd be fine with waiting a few weeks to have that type of freedom when ordering....espeically if you also had some choices when it comes to the color of the blank.

computermd82

As I'm sure you've noticed, we are in transition from our old blank tees to a new blank supplied by Anvil. Because you are very active in our forums, and I think a good representative of our community at large, I sent you a shirt or two in our new style to try out. Please feel free to try them on, compare them to your old Shirt.Woot shirts, wash them, and let everyone know what you think.

A couple of things to keep in mind – right out of the bag, these are going to feel a tiny bit different than the old ones due tot he starch used in the production process. This will disappear with the first washing. Our old blanks used starch, too, it's just this one's a tiny bit different so you might notice it. Also, you'll want to compare a washed new shirt to a washed old shirt (or unwashed to unwashed). Since both old and new shirts are 100% cotton, they shrink a little in the first washes. I think the shrinkage stops with both styles around the 5th wash or so. We had the new blanks lab tested, and the shrinkage is essentially the same as our old shirts. The new ones shrink a tiny bit less than the old ones.

If you're getting women's sizes, and if you're up for it, you could post your thoughts about the fit here: http://shirt.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=21882

Please know that you are under no obligation to post about these samples at all. I just wanted to get some real live actual shirts in the hands of some of our most active users. The samples should arrive today, and they will all be blank grass green shirts.

All the Best, Barbara Rutledge Art Director, Shirt.Woot

-------------------------------------------

I'm excited to test out the Anvil shirts. I'm hoping the shrinkage is less than the AA blanks were. I usually wear a L in every brand but with the AA shirts I'd find myself "ordering up" to a XL. After a few washed they become a L consistent with other companies.

Also if I receive a women's sample my wife will also have the opportunity to test it out. She falls in the group of wooters that were unhappy with the AA women's sizes. She would end up purchasing the men's M for a decent fit.

I have Woot shirts I've washed multiple times already as well as new ones (on AA blanks) that I've just received so I'll compare the sizes and take pictures as well.

While I'm still saddened by the manner in which Woot handled the change, I'm excited to try out the new blanks. If the have the same feel and longevity this won't be so bad.

I don't want to lose sight of what Shirt.Woot is all about, and that's supporting the artists and creativity they're sharing with the community. So if the quality is up to par, I will continue buying Woot shirts.

I realize this is frustrating for many of the staff as well who are just doing their jobs and putting up with these changes that are out of their control, so for this I thank you!

"And the man in the rain picked up his bag of secrets, and journeyed up the mountainside, far above the clouds. And nothing was ever heard from him again, except for the sound of Tubular Bells."

mpasquale

Ok, I just heard about the change, and read through much of this thread, did some research, and thought I'd summarize:

Quality: Woot tested the quality of the Anvil blanks that they'll be using and believes they're as good quality as the AA ones. Many people complained about the Anvil shirts they own, but Woot explained that Anvil has many different quality blanks and the ones Woot will use (apparently style #980) are good quality and have gotten decent reviews.

Stability: In April 2011 AA was on the brink of bankruptcy. They lined up some new funding and seem to have corrected, however Woot mentioned "stability" as one of their reasons to use Anvil blanks, which presumably means that having a diversified source of blanks for their different products will allow them to more easily shift their sourcing should any company have a disruption in production or distribution.

Cost: Anvil blanks are less expensive than AA. The amount less is unclear, and of course Woot won't tell us. They mentioned that decreasing the cost of the blanks will allow them more flexibility to branch out into other market areas (probably more hoodies, long sleaves, bags, umbrellas, mugs, etc.) where their volume is currently lower. So a better margin in t-shirts allows them to explore what other product lines will appeal to us customers.

Timing: This change has been in the works for 2+ years. It's unclear why this change and the $2 price increase happened so close together without better PR coordination. It seems the cost/margin argument was made both for the price increase and for the manufacturer change, which could certainly use some better explanations, but overall it shows consistency in trying to cut costs, raise revenue, expand into different markets, and probably increase profit for the evil overlords.

All in all I think it's not the end of the world. We're not big Shirt.Woot customers (probably 7 total between me and my wife), but this change probably won't significantly change our fairly picky purchasing habits. The change in Women's blank sizing will probably make my wife happy.. and while we won't be supporting US-based manufacturing, we will be supporting the US-based Woot crew and, most importantly, the great Woot artists from wherever they hail from.

Invisiblemoose

computermd82 wrote:I'm excited to test out the Anvil shirts. I'm hoping the shrinkage is less than the AA blanks were. I usually wear a L in every brand but with the AA shirts I'd find myself "ordering up" to a XL. After a few washed they become a L consistent with other companies.

Darquis

kawooda1 wrote:That's exactly why so many people are saying they won't be buying anymore. It's going to take a shirt design I really can't live without for me to pull the trigger again. It's not going to be because it's kind of funny anymore.

I've bought a fair share too (like pretty much my entire wardrobe at this point is shirt woot shirts with a couple other brands thrown in), I actually just bought #50 on this account (and then there are randoms, and I used another account for a while) but I have a feeling it's for people who are pretty vocal on the forums/in this thread. But I'd be happily surprised if I got one too.

That aside - when you got your first woot shirt, you had to go by the size chart, right? I don't see what's so different about these ones - you've got a size that you like with AA, but why does that mean that the Anvil ones are gonna be a much harder purchase?

CowboyDann

I'm wearing the green shirt under my work uniform, paying attention to how nicely the shirts breath, how much I sweat in them, how they fit, overal comfort etc etc etc. Hope to make a somewhat thorough review Saturday night or Sunday afternoon.

computermd82

I don't have any other brand of shirts that do this. Take Old Navy shirts, I have some more than 5 years old, washed dozens of times, they still fit as they did when I bought them. What will happen to my Woot shirts after dozens of cycles?

"And the man in the rain picked up his bag of secrets, and journeyed up the mountainside, far above the clouds. And nothing was ever heard from him again, except for the sound of Tubular Bells."

tsfisch

sensenigk wrote:But non-staff mentioned it all over the thread. In fact, the first customer post (from Narfcake) was "No qualms here, so long as you are still sticking to blanks made in the USA." And woot didn't pipe up to correct that?! That's called lying, my friends.

Uhm, no. If they weren't ready to announce the supplier switch, how could the possibly respond? "Yes, but don't expect that forever?"

Granted I think it was a PR nightmare to have the price increase followed by a supplier change about a month later. If both were really required for the success of SW, they should have been announced at the same time. Yes, you would still have taken a lot of complaints, but probably less than the sum of the two parts.

tsfisch

kawooda1 wrote:I agree that their business is to sell shirts, and not to keep other companies in business. And I understand that the best supplier needs to be chosen for their ability to supply what you need, rather than sticking with the same one forever just because they are your "friend". But like many people have suggested, they could at least offer AA shirts for an increased price. I think the decision to go with Anvil, should mean $10 shirts come back. You should have an option of AA for $12 or Anvil for $10. They are not the same.

You are assuming that a) this is viable (which it probably is not, since it would require a lot more hassle/loss of quantity discount/warehouse space/etc) and b) that the $2 increase was sufficient to cover future margin needs for SW.

tsfisch

modsquad wrote:Why do they "NEED" to make a change? If they actually "needed" to make a change, they could have made other changes, like raising the price $3 instead of $2 & keeping sticking with the U.S. made blanks. If they are having problems with womens sizing, they can ADD additional brands/sizes/models from other providers while keeping the current offerings the same.

Some of us don't want to pay even more to support a failing US company that will likely fail anyway, thanks to their squandering of money on social agenda rather than their core business.

tsfisch

Darquis wrote:That aside - when you got your first woot shirt, you had to go by the size chart, right? I don't see what's so different about these ones - you've got a size that you like with AA, but why does that mean that the Anvil ones are gonna be a much harder purchase?

I've never used a size chart in my life. Normally I buy a Large. If I want something extra baggy, I'll buy an XL. This is true whether I buy a T-shirt from woot, Target, or a guy in a back alley.

ColdEthyl

So I came back to shirt.woot to say something nice about the Arrow To The Knee shirts that arrived yesterday (as advertised) for me and my daughter. Then I did some reading, both here and on the labels of our shirts. My daughters' shirt (women's M)"Made in the USA", Yay! My shirt, Men's XL, "made in honduras". Not so yay. Not so yay at all. Downright PISSED OFF is a better way to describe me right now.

Why so angry? The short version is because I am an American. A Proud, Hard Working American. I am a mold maker by trade and I am one of the few that are left in this great country. The reason has nothing to do with lack of American quality. It has everything to do with foreign countries being able to throw a crap-load of people at a job for far less money than we can.

I have received a lot of comments on the shirts I have purchased from woot.shirt, and have always told people where to find similarly great shirts. No more. I will continue to wear the USA made shirts, but will now be telling people about the company that stopped supporting USA made at the same time they jacked up prices.

I will not be making any more purchases here until such time that you bring back Made In USA. I will also be frequenting the discussion pages to remind people of the fact you have played a part in selling this country down some foreign river. I'm sure this won't bother you too badly. My place will likely be taken by some smelly "occupy" person spending Daddy's or Mommy's pay check while sticking it to corporate America.

CowboyDann

ColdEthyl wrote:So I came back to shirt.woot to say something nice about the Arrow To The Knee shirts that arrived yesterday (as advertised) for me and my daughter. Then I did some reading, both here and on the labels of our shirts. My daughters' shirt (women's M)"Made in the USA", Yay! My shirt, Men's XL, "made in honduras". Not so yay. Not so yay at all. Downright PISSED OFF is a better way to describe me right now.

There was a big banner at the end of the write-up that let us know the Men's shirts would be printed on the new woot shirts. It was there since the very beginning of the offer. There were plenty of people that were talking about it in the forums.

I completely understand the anger, but I don't understand why this came as a big surprise. You got exactly what was advertised.

raccoonbacon

kawooda1

Darquis wrote:That aside - when you got your first woot shirt, you had to go by the size chart, right? I don't see what's so different about these ones - you've got a size that you like with AA, but why does that mean that the Anvil ones are gonna be a much harder purchase?

I have two main reasons I will have a hard time buying. The first is due to the principle of it all. Woot knew this was coming, and they jerked us around with the price increase paired with the cheaper foreign supplier. I like to support made in the USA, but I don't always... I'd say 7 of my last 10 cars were European... and I have other clothes made all over the country. But I feel this is a shift in woot from customer-centered to profit-centered. I felt woot wanted me to get the best deal before -- and now I feel like they only care they get my money. I can't tell you how many people I have referred to woot. My word of mouth is responsible for hundreds of other purchases (I'm certain of this). Notice how when the price increase was announced, a lot more people were ok with it. Because it made sense -- they wanted to be able to continue to offer us the same great shirts and had fought off an increase in price, but couldn't anymore. And I didn't feel the need to complain because I understood and appreciated the explanation. But they looked at how well the bad news went, and decided to push us further. And I won't support that.

Second, I have a ton of t-shirts. Probably half of them are woot or other AA. The other half are Jersey, or Hanes, or whatever. And none have held up as well as woot and my few other AA shirts. None fit better. I LOVE my woot shirts. I don't want future woot shirts to be pushed into the dark corners of the closet where the other poor-fitting, or fast-aging shirts I don't want to wear end up.

profbrendan

tsfisch wrote:I've never used a size chart in my life. Normally I buy a Large. If I want something extra baggy, I'll buy an XL. This is true whether I buy a T-shirt from woot, Target, or a guy in a back alley.

ceotty

tsfisch wrote:I've never used a size chart in my life. Normally I buy a Large. If I want something extra baggy, I'll buy an XL. This is true whether I buy a T-shirt from woot, Target, or a guy in a back alley.

Wow. I'm super glad you're able to do that.

Unfortunately, many of us (especially women!) can't do that because there is no universal clothing size. I can only speak for myself, but I have to rely on a size chart - and the measurements provided - because the difference can be quite substantial in how sizes vary.

geekfactor12

CowboyDann wrote:There was a big banner at the end of the write-up that let us know the Men's shirts would be printed on the new woot shirts. It was there since the very beginning of the offer. There were plenty of people that were talking about it in the forums.

I completely understand the anger, but I don't understand why this came as a big surprise. You got exactly what was advertised.

I think that's expecting a lot, to be honest. The person you quoted has been a customer for four years, during which the product has not changed. When I order something I've been ordering for that long, I don't usually read all the details because I have strong reason to believe I already know them. And the vast majority of customers never post or read the forums, so you can't assume everyone's seen that either.

It's okay for people to be surprised at getting something different than expected. If Big Macs were suddenly 200 calories more, even if the menu clearly stated it, a lot of people would miss it. Doesn't mean Woot or the customer are necessarily wrong, just that any time a substantial change is made, if it's not immediately obvious to the customer, a lot of people will miss it (and, to be fair, a lot of those people will never notice the change at all).

CowboyDann

geekfactor12 wrote:I think that's expecting a lot, to be honest. The person you quoted has been a customer for four years, during which the product has not changed. When I order something I've been ordering for that long, I don't usually read all the details because I have strong reason to believe I already know them. And the vast majority of customers never post or read the forums, so you can't assume everyone's seen that either.

It's okay for people to be surprised at getting something different than expected. If Big Macs were suddenly 200 calories more, even if the menu clearly stated it, a lot of people would miss it. Doesn't mean Woot or the customer are necessarily wrong, just that any time a substantial change is made, if it's not immediately obvious to the customer, a lot of people will miss it (and, to be fair, a lot of those people will never notice the change at all).

That's true, sometimes for someone like me who reads nearly every page of woot it's hard to remember there aren't people checking up on it every day reading all the details. We still get people commenting "12 DOLLAR SHIRTS?! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!" so it makes sense people wouldn't notice the change.

Josephus

Unfortunately, many of us (especially women!) can't do that because there is no universal clothing size. I can only speak for myself, but I have to rely on a size chart - and the measurements provided - because the difference can be quite substantial in how sizes vary.

I strongly urge you ladies not to go into back alleys to buy tee shirts. guys too.

endangeredomega

***Sorry for the double-post. Copying over my review of today's blanks from the new thread. ***

Was genuinely surprised to find a package of blanks when I got home this evening, as Woot typically never really likes what I have to say. ;) Regardless, here's my brutally honest assessment, for the rest of the "fey little fancy-boy" demographic.

I wore a K12 in the old AA sizes, which offered the fitted (but not tight) look that I prefer for my tees. I've got small shoulders and arms for a guy (check out my 7.5" pythons!!) so the width was great, and the length hit right around waistband level. My one gripe was that the sleeves were a little short and looked a bit effeminate.

I received 3 blanks in the new Anvil sizes, WM, WS, and K12. (Probably because I typically order shirts for both myself, and for my sister.) For Potty Emergency! and giggles, I tried the ladies' tees on. Predictably, they were too big. Although the straight cut of the AA shirts meant I could get away with the old WS or WM (despite the short sleeves again!) the 'curvy' cut of the Anvil ones make them an absolute no-go. Severely limits my tee-trade options, but what can you do.

Sister is a tiny slip of a thing (im guessing about about 5'3" and 105 lbs?), but likes her shirts roomy, and so ultimately preferred the AA WM cut. She'd probably be insulted by a kids' size, so if I were to surprise her with another Woot shirt as a gift, I'd probably go with the WS.

On to the K12. I was pleasantly surprised, out of the package, that the fabric felt softer than expected - pretty comparable to the AAs. Not sure how it will take to a couple of washes; I live in a tiny NYC apt, so things are usually sink-washed and rack-dried, rather than burning money in a laundromat. This also means 'shrinking' the shirt isn't really an option; shame that, because the K12 felt considerably larger/longer than the AA. However, the sleeves are a good couple of inches longer, which is a big plus in Anvil's favour.

Thank you Woot, for the blanks, though I sadly still don't know which size I wear! I'm guessing that those of us who used to order the K12s will probably fall somewhere in the K8 or K10 range.

I've gotten selective about designs over the years, so I guess I'll be waiting for a real must-have (something along the lines of a TruffleShuffle monster, some quirky VonMonkey goodness, an Edgar masterpiece, or another Katie Kaboomin' RGlee/Kasey mashup, hint, hint) before I bite the bullet and try my luck with the new kids' sizes.

Darquis

I get what you're saying - and outside a couple just generic shirts, my woot AA ones held up the best. But that isn't to say I don't love the threadless ones that are part of my regular rotation - I guess for me it comes down to: I haven't tried these shirts, I don't know how they'll be, so I'm not ready to make judgments one way or the other.

Darquis

I get what you're saying, but I have to wonder how much woot needs to advertise/announce a change in this case. Ok, so you don't read the blog posts. That's fine, I don't either - but then not reading the description for the shirt or the big yellow box which means something is up - like you said, this is someone who's been here 4 years - so while they've come to expect certain things, that should be one. I'd say woot needs to lead with the yellow box, but that's about all they could have done different.

geekfactor12

Darquis wrote:I get what you're saying, but I have to wonder how much woot needs to advertise/announce a change in this case. Ok, so you don't read the blog posts. That's fine, I don't either - but then not reading the description for the shirt or the big yellow box which means something is up - like you said, this is someone who's been here 4 years - so while they've come to expect certain things, that should be one. I'd say woot needs to lead with the yellow box, but that's about all they could have done different.

That would have been one way, another might have been to announce it on the order page when sizes are selected. Or a newsletter.

Part of why Woot put it at the bottom of the page is probably because they feel it's not a substantial difference in shirts. For most customers, this is very likely to be true. I just dislike seeing people blame the customer for not seeing a difference that was purposefully not made as obvious as it could have been. It's not a Woot decision that I disagree with, but it is one that has fairly predictable consequences

computermd82

Just got home, received a Men's XL and M as samples. Didn't take the pics yet but initial impressions were good until I inspected the collar. Seems the collar opening is larger and more elastic than the AA counterparts.

I'll take pics in a few but I'm hoping the collar shrinks a little when washed. Otherwise the shirts seem alright.

"And the man in the rain picked up his bag of secrets, and journeyed up the mountainside, far above the clouds. And nothing was ever heard from him again, except for the sound of Tubular Bells."

BootsBoots

Here are my photos to add to the mix. I got a new women's small and a new Kids 10 (thanks, Woot!). I'm 5'2" and about 100 lbs. Both shirts were unwearable for me, but the material was really nice! If you're worried about them being thick or stiff or scratchy, don't! The fabric's nice and soft.

The new women's small: It's huge and really unflattering. It's like a bag across the chest and waist and it flares out at the bottom like a tent. I imagine it's really nice if you have a chest and hips to fill it out, but I don't.

The K-10: It's not an option. It's narrower than the new WS, but it's too short to wear and the sleeves are really long.

Here are the photos (the AA has been washed and new ones haven't yet):

Bonus image! I had my 6'5" boyfriend and my D-cup friend try on the new women's small as well. My boyfriend said that if the sleeves and length were an inch longer, it'd fit him better than any shirt he's ever owned. My friend had the tenting at the bottom problem too and wouldn't wear the WS (even though she's an AA medium-large).

So... these kind of fit so poorly that I wont buy any Woot shirts for myself anymore. Even if I really love a design. Boo.

trailsforus

I HATE anvil shirts. This makes me cringe but After a few years and over 80 shirts bought woot just lost a very loyal customer in me. I have had all the anvil shirts and the fit/feel is sub par to say it lightly to any AA shirt. Sorry woot...

trekmiss

It would be nice to get some of the new shirts to try. It may help me decide whether or not I like the new blanks and what size to order. I am worried about the sleeves especially, since I'll still be in the men's sizes. Of course, woot knows how many shirts I've bought, and I have a nice supply of XL, 2X and 3X shirts that I can compare to. I'd even be interested in trying one of the new WXL's.

Edit: I really appreciate the photos that have been posted of the tester shirts. I just need to see what the shirts look like on women w/o perfect bodies. And in my specific situation of having lost so much weight, which adds to my strange fit, I really have no clue what size to order now. I think that maybe the WXL or the ML will work (except for the length), and I'm afraid the MXL (which I currently wear in AA) will be too big. I'm guessing if I don't receive some tester shirts, I'll have to wait for a random sale where I can afford to order all 3 sizes to know what size I need.

Sizing used to be way easy for me, when I would just order the biggest available. However, I don't miss those days at all.

csnhsyearbook

Well, I just finished reading all 17 pages of comments. (I'm doing "homework," ma!) I've tried to remain cautiously optimistic through this whole debacle. I love the American Apparel blanks. I don't always buy American (look at my car, computer, television, phone, etc.) so that wasn't the big selling point for me. Its the quality of the shirt that matters the most.

Example: Last June, I ordered two cranberry t-shirts, one Donut Panic from Woot, one from cheezburger. Donut Panic still looks fantastic. The design isn't faded or crackled or has that weird wavy bacon effect. The shirt's still soft and pill-free and the collar isn't saggy. The cheezburger one shrunk dramatically and faded after a few washes. I only wear it to bed because my dog and teddy bears don't mind that its short and faded.

I never really looked at the cheezburger shirt's label. I was just folding it and decided to look at the label. Lo and behold, its an Anvil. An Anvil 880 (I don't know what style Woot is using for women.) I'm pretty bummed. Its certainly better than my crappy Anvil and Gliden shirts I have from marching band, but the American Apparel shirts are vastly superior.

I normally spend a chunk of my paycheck on Woot shirts. I'll buy one design to test the waters. However, I have a feeling I will be spending less from now on.

Now that the manufacturing starch is out of the fabric, I did a "pet" test. As in, I set the new blanks next to the AA tees and petted them. Both are soft. The AA is marginally softer than the Anvil, but not by much.

The seams on the Anvil WXL blank did not twist in the wash/dry. They stayed where they should be.

But wow did we lose some length.
So, here's what a comparison of AA WXL on AA ML shirts - washed many times on the Anvil WXL - never washed:

Now, we have the same shirts, AAWXL, AAML, ANVWXL - same order all washed and dried:
As you can see, we lost a significant amount of length (I'm now sorry I didn't break out the measuring tape earlier.). Not enough to make it a deal break on even my long torso - but if you are very tall, it could prove problematic.

And here's the comparison of AAML - washed Vs. ANVML unwashed:

And now the same shirts after a wash:

Again, we see a significant loss of length. But on this particular size, we can now see the width lost on the ANVML:

So - as far as the men's sizes, your sleeves will be a bit longer, but you can stay the same size - if you can afford to lose 1/4-1/2" of length when all is said and done.

Ladies - From my experience, our shirts lose more length in the wash. My Anvil WXL blank is now shorter than my AA ML. I don't see this being an issue for me in particular, due to the new cut. But keep it in mind.

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